There are a few things to consider when embarking on learning HOW to study. Amongst these considerations is that sometimes the practical side of life lends itself to help our studies be more successful. Such as? ... Such as learning time management skills. You'll be surprised how much setting up a study schedule and sticking to it! will help you improve your marks, decrease test and exam anxiety and eliminate cramming habits!!!
So ... to start off please realize this is not a HOW TO guide so that you can just sit down and hey presto, magic results. There is work to be done!!! There are habits to change!!! And did I mention there is work to be done? :)
What do we start off with first, you may ask?
GOAL SETTING - ACTION PLAN - TIME MANAGEMENT: USING A PLANNER
Leading a Balanced Life
Before we even LOOK at figuring out your time priorities, setting goals and translating all of this to a schedule that will help keep your studies and life on track, we have to, have to, have to! talk about leading a balanced life. That is our main goal. And everything falls under that. Yes please. :)
Priorities
The first thing to do is to figure out what are your life priorities. YOUR priorities. Another way to say it is what eats up your time everyday. We call them ROCK PRIORITIES the things you absolutely have to do and have time attached to it e.g. school, sleep, eat, church, chores etc. Next are time-eaters that you enjoy but do not have to to, buuuuttttt still need to be scheduled - that we call PEBBLE PRIORITIES. And then lastly, the SAND OR WATER PRIORITIES. These are the things that do not need to be scheduled and can be done as you go along your day e.g. texting a friend, watching a general tv show, going for a walk, play station.
Goal Setting
Goal-setting. Goal Setting? Seeerriiooooousssly? Bah Humbug! No, truly! If you do not know what you are working towards, how on earth will you know if you reached or missed your goal? How, pray tell, how? :) Goal Setting I tell thee. Goal Setting! What type of goals? Well, since this is an academic type of business, I have to let you in on a secret? Shhh ... don't tell anyone now ya hear? Goals for your subjects - Percentages - Levels. Really some serious stuff we're talking about here :). BUT ALSO GOALS FOR YOUR LIFE.
Action Plan & Reviewing of action steps
Part of goal setting is setting up an action plan to reach your goal. Ever heard of someone reaching America by boat, without leaving the harbour? (Funny!!!) You have to got to leave the harbour and sail towards your goal! You need navigation equipment, the correct type of clothing, proper gear, a boat and so on to reach your destination. You need to check every so often that you are still on course. Imagine you have everything right, but somewhere along the line, your boat veers off to the left and eventually reaches the South Pole! You've reached a destination but it ain't America, buddy! Along the way, we need to set in some check points to make sure you are still well on your way to reaching your goal and amend your action plan if you need to e.g. maybe schedule more time in a week to focus on a struggling subject.
Time Management & Priorities: Using a planner
This brings us to our next point .. .Time Management. Does this not just sound like an amazingly weird foreign word!!! Yes, I know! That is why you need to be trained in how to figure out what is important and what is not that important and what really is not that important at all. And then how do you filter all of these into time categories of when to allocate time to what. That is why we need a planner - You have to learn how to use a study planner so that that weird word becomes a normal word to you! I like! So, what is part of the deal of learning about this? My, my so glad you asked :) Really, the only thing to learn here is what is the best type of planner, how to schedule your study time correctly, avoid studying the night before for a test or exam by allocating time well ahead of the test / exam for studying etc. We have a few worksheets for you to fill in and along the way, some more tips and tricks to help you organize your life :)
SO WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY .... LET US START LEARNING!
HIP, HIP HURRAY! HERE'S TO YOUR SUCCESS!
So ... to start off please realize this is not a HOW TO guide so that you can just sit down and hey presto, magic results. There is work to be done!!! There are habits to change!!! And did I mention there is work to be done? :)
What do we start off with first, you may ask?
GOAL SETTING - ACTION PLAN - TIME MANAGEMENT: USING A PLANNER
Leading a Balanced Life
Before we even LOOK at figuring out your time priorities, setting goals and translating all of this to a schedule that will help keep your studies and life on track, we have to, have to, have to! talk about leading a balanced life. That is our main goal. And everything falls under that. Yes please. :)
Priorities
The first thing to do is to figure out what are your life priorities. YOUR priorities. Another way to say it is what eats up your time everyday. We call them ROCK PRIORITIES the things you absolutely have to do and have time attached to it e.g. school, sleep, eat, church, chores etc. Next are time-eaters that you enjoy but do not have to to, buuuuttttt still need to be scheduled - that we call PEBBLE PRIORITIES. And then lastly, the SAND OR WATER PRIORITIES. These are the things that do not need to be scheduled and can be done as you go along your day e.g. texting a friend, watching a general tv show, going for a walk, play station.
Goal Setting
Goal-setting. Goal Setting? Seeerriiooooousssly? Bah Humbug! No, truly! If you do not know what you are working towards, how on earth will you know if you reached or missed your goal? How, pray tell, how? :) Goal Setting I tell thee. Goal Setting! What type of goals? Well, since this is an academic type of business, I have to let you in on a secret? Shhh ... don't tell anyone now ya hear? Goals for your subjects - Percentages - Levels. Really some serious stuff we're talking about here :). BUT ALSO GOALS FOR YOUR LIFE.
Action Plan & Reviewing of action steps
Part of goal setting is setting up an action plan to reach your goal. Ever heard of someone reaching America by boat, without leaving the harbour? (Funny!!!) You have to got to leave the harbour and sail towards your goal! You need navigation equipment, the correct type of clothing, proper gear, a boat and so on to reach your destination. You need to check every so often that you are still on course. Imagine you have everything right, but somewhere along the line, your boat veers off to the left and eventually reaches the South Pole! You've reached a destination but it ain't America, buddy! Along the way, we need to set in some check points to make sure you are still well on your way to reaching your goal and amend your action plan if you need to e.g. maybe schedule more time in a week to focus on a struggling subject.
Time Management & Priorities: Using a planner
This brings us to our next point .. .Time Management. Does this not just sound like an amazingly weird foreign word!!! Yes, I know! That is why you need to be trained in how to figure out what is important and what is not that important and what really is not that important at all. And then how do you filter all of these into time categories of when to allocate time to what. That is why we need a planner - You have to learn how to use a study planner so that that weird word becomes a normal word to you! I like! So, what is part of the deal of learning about this? My, my so glad you asked :) Really, the only thing to learn here is what is the best type of planner, how to schedule your study time correctly, avoid studying the night before for a test or exam by allocating time well ahead of the test / exam for studying etc. We have a few worksheets for you to fill in and along the way, some more tips and tricks to help you organize your life :)
SO WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY .... LET US START LEARNING!
HIP, HIP HURRAY! HERE'S TO YOUR SUCCESS!